Cardiac catheterization is an invasive procedure which exposes each patient undergoing the procedure and the vasculature of that patient to potential contamination, making sterility a high priority. Because of the risks of cross-contamination, most items used during the catheterization procedure are disposable. Indeed, certain items which it would be desirable to preserve are disposed of in the interest of maintaining patient-to-patient sterility.
For example, non-ionic contrast media or dyes used in a cardiac catheterization procedure are relatively expensive fluids, with costs typically exceeding $1.00 per milliliter (ml). In the current cath lab environment, non-ionic dye media is supplied to the lab in 150 ml containers which is, for the material provided, a standard container. However, a typical catheterization procedure uses anywhere from 80 to 120 mls. At the end of such procedure, the container of non-ionic contrast media is discarded and 30 to 70 mls of contrast media is also discarded with that container, resulting in a loss of 20 to 47 percent of the contents of that container.
In a major cath lab setting where dozens of such procedures are performed every day, the use of non-ionic contrast media over a years time can amount to upwards of one million milliliters of fluid. Thus, an apparatus which could preserve the sterility and integrity of the non-ionic contrast media stored in the container and eliminate waste could produce significant savings in a cath lab. The foregoing example would envision annual savings of $200,000 to $470,000 in a single significant cath lab situation.
Of course, simply saving non-ionic contrast media is not enough. The associated apparatus must maintain the sterile barrier between fluid container and patient and maintain that sterile barrier from patient to patient as well.